Three Wise Men
by dawn341
Summary: Fifth Season Story


The Three Wise Men by Dawn Cunningham

Disclaimers:

Duncan, Richie, Joe and Methos belong to Rysher. I'm just borrowing them and not getting paid for it.

Do not post or publish this story anywhere else, without my express permission. Feel free to share it with others as long as the disclaimers remain intact.

This story was written many years ago.

Acknowledgments:

First off, this hasn't been beta read, so I'm the only one to blame. It's amazing what the mind will latch on to at 2:00 in the morning when you have insomnia. The only way to get this thing out of my head was to write it. That's my only defense.

I'll call this 5th season so Richie knows who Methos is.

The Three Wise Men by Dawn Cunningham

Joe Dawson looked up from his polishing when he heard the door to the bar open. It was almost closing time, so the place was empty. He'd already sent Mike, his assistant bartender home for the night.

The three men, or maybe he should say Immortals, all had sheepish looks on their faces and Joe's eyebrows shot up. Without a word they headed straight for the bar and sat down on stools in front of it.

Joe didn't wait for directions, he just started pouring beers, setting one down in front of the three men. He'd learned from experience that getting information from this trio was much simpler when they had something to drink.

"So what happened?" Joe finally asked.

Richie Ryan glared at the other two. "I had it under control, Joe! Honest! I had my target in sight - a few whacks and we could have been out of there, but nooooo..."

Duncan MacLeod sighed. "Richie, it's not that easy. There were too many of them. We had to check out the place first before we could make any decisions on how to proceed." He pointed a finger at the younger Immortal. "Your impetuosity is going to get you in deep trouble some day. I've told you time and time again to look before you leap."

"Give me a break, Mac! I'm not your student anymore. Remember? I've grown up. Everything would have been just fine without your interference. I could have handled it."

"Richie, I've had a few more years of experience behind me than you do. I wasn't going to let you make a mistake like that. Joe would never have forgiven me."

"Oh yeah? Well how do you expect him to feel when he finds out what we did?" Richie replied.

A sinking feeling hit Joe's stomach. "What did you do?" He looked at Duncan and Richie who suddenly seemed very interested in their beer. He turned to the third Immortal. "Methos? What happened?"

Methos just shrugged his shoulders. "I was just along for the ride. Don't blame me, Joe."

Richie snorted. "Oh yeah. Mr. 'I'm five thousand years old' was a real big help."

"Hey, I've spent a lot of time avoiding these kind of squabbles. I wasn't going to get involved now. You and MacLeod *should* have been able to handle this on your own."

Duncan glared at the oldest Immortal. "All you had to do was give a little advice - you usually like doing that."

"I did advise you," Methos said as he passed his beer glass to Joe for a refill.

"Ha! 'Whatever you think best' hardly qualifies. I had my hands full trying to keep Richie from whacking everything in sight."

"Well, at least we would have accomplished something," Richie snapped.

"You did get it, right?" Joe asked. "You said you could handle it."

The three Immortals refused to meet his eyes.

"I don't believe this," Joe said. "I was counting on you guys. How could you let this happen? How did it happen?"

"Don't worry, Joe. I won't let you down," Duncan replied. "As soon as it gets light, I'll go out again. By myself this time." He glared back and forth between the other two Immortals.

Joe shook his head. "Just what exactly was the problem? I thought it was a simple little task - just in and out in no time."

Methos chuckled. "They spent so much time arguing, that the place got locked down before we finished. We had to leave."

Joe groaned and buried his head in his hands. "I don't believe this. What am I going to do now?"

"Don't worry, Joe. I'll make sure you have it in plenty of time," Duncan promised. "You have my word on it."

"Well, you can count me out this time," Richie said as he stood up. "I'm going home to bed."

"And what about you?" Joe asked Methos.

"He's on his own," Methos replied. "I'm not going to go out there and freeze my bum off again while he plays boy scout. Once was more than enough. I'll see you later." He rose and followed Richie out the door.

"Trust me," Duncan told Joe. "I won't fail this time."

Joe shook his head. "Maybe I should just handle this on my own."

"Now, Joe, be reasonable. You just don't have the experience. It's not like you can just take an ax and start swinging it around. It takes a little skill."

"I suppose you're right." Joe tried to decide if he had any other options. "But you will manage to do it before tonight, right? Otherwise, I might as well close the bar."

"I'll take care of it. I promise."

Joe knew that look. He'd seen it many times before on the Highlander's face. It was the do or die look. He knew he could trust the Immortal to accomplish the deed this time.

"All right, MacLeod, but I'm warning you..."

"Don't worry, Joe." Duncan stood up and fastened his coat. "I won't fail again." He headed out of the bar.

Joe returned to his polishing. This was the last time he'd listen to his three friends. Next year he'd get an artificial Christmas tree. If MacLeod wanted a fresh cut one, he could get his own.

Joe chuckled as he thought about the three Immortals wandering about a Christmas tree ranch, squabbling about which tree to cut. Too bad he hadn't been able to watch. Maybe he would send the three of them out next year, then follow behind. What a journal entry that would be!

The End

Merry Christmas!


End file.
